As engineers, we have been exposed to the greatest engineering triumphs (The CERN Large Hadron Collider) and the most humbling of disasters (Tacoma Washington Bridge). These engineering missteps fall somewhere in between. These reflect all the worst practices of engineering, from poor requirements definition, inadequate modeling, incomplete testing, poor change management, and a clear lack of interlock across engineering teams and with their customer.

This image reminds me of the simplifications we used to make engineering calculations easier in college. It also highlights how important all those factors are in the real world. In engineering, estimate early and often, but calculate as completely as possible.